With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Attention Readers: Find Us in Your Mailbox Soon

With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Terry Oparka

C&G Staff Reporter – Troy Times

Staff Writer Terry Oparka covers Troy and the Troy School District for the Troy Times. Oparka has worked for C & G Newspapers since 2000 and attended Oakland University and Macomb Community College. Oparka has won an award from the Michigan Press Association and four awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Detroit Chapter.

Judge Rae Lee Chabot described the July 2, 2010, shooting of Saif Jameel, 33, by his uncle, Hayes Bacall, at the BP gas station on Big Beaver as needless before she imposed the mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder.

A jury rendered a guilty verdict in the case last month. Bacall said he shot his nephew in self-defense.

Chabot stipulated that Bacall have no contact with Jameel’s immediate family and ordered him to pay $28,500 in restitution.

The action-packed game inspired her to create a 5-foot-by-9-foot painting in which she captures a thrilling moment in an imaginary game using a strippling technique on canvas with two colors, red and black.

Alate described strippling as an art form that uses dots for the base.

She said it was a challenge to capture the forceful moment of the game with millions of dots and only two colors.

The Troy City Council voted unanimously to spend part of the $2.6 million resulting from employee concessions and early retirements to put back two sergeants and two police officers that had been among the 38 positions slated to be cut by 2014.

Councilman Wade Fleming initially asked the council at the Sept. 12 meeting to hold off on any budget decisions until after the new council members take their seats in November. The office of mayor and the seats of Council members Robin Beltramini and Martin Howrylak and Mayor Pro Tem Mary Kerwin are up for re-election.

Plans for the Troy Multi-Modal Transit Facility chugged ahead after the Troy City Council approved the contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation that allows dispersal of just under $8.5 million in federal grant money to fund the project.

Two children told police they planned to jump from a speeding car a Warren woman was driving on the freeway during rush hour because they didn’t want to die.

Troy police received a report of a vehicle driving erratically and speeding on I-75, at Adams Road, at 5:45 p.m. Sept. 18. Police clocked the driver, Betty Jean Turner, 46, at speeds of over 90 mph, according to reports.

Police are on the lookout for a man who asked a 10-year-old boy standing on a Safety Patrol post at Highbury and Ivanhoe, in the John R and Square Lake area near Wass Elementary School, to come to his car around 8:45 a.m. Sept. 13.

Police said two 10-year-old boys stand at that corner on their Safety Patrol posts, which is about a block away from the school. The boys saw the same car parked near the exact spot Sept. 9.

Troy library cardholders can flash their cards at a number of nearby businesses for a flurry of discounts.

In celebration of National Library Card Sign-up month in September, a number of businesses will offer those who hold cards from libraries in the Suburban Library Cooperative discounts on books, food, fitness programs, electronics, computers, weight loss products, flowers, career consulting and even laundry services. While the majority of participating businesses are in Macomb County, Troy library cardholders can still capitalize.

A number of citizen volunteer committees are no longer required to convene after the Troy City Council dissolved them at its Aug. 29 meeting.

The committees’ futures had been uncertain for nearly a year after the council had considered streamlining and/or dissolving a number of boards and committees last October due to reductions in city staff needed to advise the members, but the council took no formal action until last month.

The Art Institute of Michigan – Troy, part of the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago and the Art Institutes’ system of 45 institutions across the North America, will begin offering classes next month.

An international company that designs and manufactures interiors, electronics, roofs, door systems and other parts for the automotive and other industries plans to invest $3 million in a facility on Crooks Road.

City Council approved a six-year, $17,866 tax break for Inteva Products Aug. 29 in support of the investment in machinery and equipment that will add 35 new jobs to the 184 current jobs at the Troy facility.

The Troy School District gained nearly 300 new students over the summer, but district officials said that won’t impact class sizes.

Kerry Birmingham, Troy School District director of community and media relations, said she received between one- and two-dozen queries each week over the summer from Realtors and homebuyers wondering if a home for sale in the city was in the district boundaries.

“People are moving in,” she said.

Birmingham believes the increase also reflects families switching from private schools to the Troy School District.

On Sept. 11, 2001, two days before the start of Troy Daze, Troy Community Affairs Director Cindy Stewart sat in the regular weekly meeting with heads of various city departments. She planned to go to Boulan Park as soon as it was over to oversee the myriad details that went into putting on the popular city-sponsored four-day festival, which drew tens of thousands of people.

Her plans changed fast.

As Troy city leaders, with the rest of the country and the world, watched and listened in shock as the events of that fateful day unfolded, they had to make a decision.

Troy Family Daze, modeled after the city-sponsored Troy Daze festival, will offer games, entertainment, midway rides, fireworks and fun in a different spot from where the city-run festival was held.

Zion Christian Church, on Livernois, will host the four-day festival.

The North Woodward Community Foundation, a nonprofit group, will fund the festival. Tom Kaszubski, executive director of the North Woodward Community Foundation, said any net profits will go back to the community through grants and community projects.

Upcoming Events

The events in our calendar were submitted prior to the coronavirus crisis.
As efforts have increased to contain the spread of the coronavirus, many events have been canceled.
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On March 13, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order to cancel all events statewide that involve more than 250 people. It is recommended that you call ahead if you still intend to attend one of these events.